Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-11-03

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The pie charts below show responses by teachers of foreign languages in Britain to a survey concerning why their students are learning a foreign language. The first chart shows the main reason for learning a foreign language. The second chart shows how many teachers felt that there has been a recent change in the reason.

Write a report for a university lecturer describing the information below.

% of teachers reporting the following as most common reason for learning:

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The pie chart demonstrates the propotion of various reasons why students are learning foreign language and the both pie charts compares the reasons with slight to significant changes over time.Initially most of the students were learning different languages with 33 being the highest percentage was for travelling to help understand other counties people but this percentage has drastically fell to only 3 percent. second highest persent was 26 % which also reduced to 19% recently.

The percentage that has increased in the recent times is, for buying property over seas as it has increased from 19% to 34% which is a significant change.The percentage for foreign partner has in creased only 1% and same goes for the general interest.The percentage of personal development has declined to 4% from 7% and social social contacts has increased from 7% to 15%.In the recent times the 15% reasons of students for learning foreign languages have not changed by any means.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify several important figures, including travel as the leading initial reason (33%), business/work at 26%, and buying property overseas as the largest reported recent increase (34%). You also note the 15% reporting no change. However, the account does not clearly distinguish the two charts: the second chart reports teachers’ views of recent changes, not new percentages for the original reasons. For example, saying travel “has drastically fell to only 3 percent” incorrectly presents the figures as a fall from 33% to 3%; 3% is the share reporting a recent increase for travel. The overview is also limited, and some categories are omitted or not clearly compared. Make the charts’ different measures explicit and summarise their main contrasts before giving details.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response follows a broadly sensible order, moving from the initial reasons to reported recent changes, and phrases such as “second highest” and “In the recent times” help signal progression. However, the organisation is compressed into two long paragraphs, with no clear overview separated from supporting details. The opening sentence is difficult to follow because it combines the purpose of both charts without explaining their distinct measures. Some links also create confusing comparisons, particularly the claim that travel “has drastically fell” to 3%. Use a clearer structure: introduce both charts, give an overview of the main patterns, then compare the key figures in a separate detail paragraph. More precise referencing would make the progression easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant task vocabulary, including “percentage,” “significant change,” “increased,” and “declined,” and the reader can generally identify the categories being discussed. However, the range is limited and several word-choice, spelling, or collocation problems reduce precision: “propotion,” “persent,” and “over seas” are misspelled, while “the 15% reasons” is not a natural way to describe the no-change response. “Drastically fell” is also an inaccurate choice for the travel figure, since the charts do not show a fall over time. Aim for accurate reporting verbs and standard category names, and check spelling carefully. Using terms such as “share of teachers,” “reported an increase,” and “remained unchanged” would make the report clearer and more appropriate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

There are attempts to combine ideas in longer sentences, but control is uneven, and several sentence structures are faulty or difficult to follow. For example, “with 33 being the highest percentage was for travelling” lacks a clear grammatical structure, while “the both pie charts compares” has an incorrect article and subject–verb agreement. The opening also runs two clauses together without appropriate punctuation. Other problems include “has drastically fell,” where the verb form is incorrect, and inconsistent sentence-initial capitalisation in “second highest.” These errors sometimes make the relationships between figures unclear. Practise building accurate simple sentences first, then add subordinate clauses, checking agreement, verb forms, articles, and punctuation.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.